Memphis Wrestling (2.23.1980) Review

-Originally aired February 23, 1980.

-Your hosts are Lance Russell & Dave Brown.

PAUL ELLERING & ALI HASSAN (with Jimmy Hart) vs. STEVE REGAL & BOBBY LYONS
-So Jimmy’s expanding his horizons and building a stable and he has Tag Team Champions now. And he STILL hasn’t actually cut a promo! Even with a big bushy beard, Hassan is instantly recognizable as Jack Kruger, the 1980s WWF referee who SCREAMED ABSOLUTELY ALL THE TIME THROUGH EVERY MATCH. Yeah, you remember that referee? That’s Ali Hassan.

-Ellering misses a forearm and Regal hiptosses him across the ring. Lyons tags in and Ellering just laughs at how doughy the jobber is–he bears a striking resemblance to Buddy Wayne, but Bobby holds his own and Ellering is forced to complain about phantom hair-pulling to save face.

-Regal tags back in and gets slammed for a two-count. Hassan tags in right as Regal makes his comeback, and Hassan is caught in a side headlock. Dropkick by Regal, and he takes Hassan down to the mat. Hassan counters with headscissors, but Regal snaps out and goes to the side headlock again. Hassan escapes and tags Ellering in. Ellering goes for the kill but misses a big elbow, and it’s a hot tag to Bobby Lyons.

-But…I mean…it’s Bobby Lyons, so he just gets beaten down by the champs. Hassan tags back in and drops a leg for one. Everyone tags and Regal looks like he’s going to pull off the miracle this week, slamming Ellering for a two-count. Hassan comes back in, and he’s trying to do Iron Sheik-style “sinister boot” spots, but the problem is he just has regular wrestling boots so it loses something in translation.

-Lyons tags in and goes for a wristlock, but Hassan breaks it with a shot to the balls, which loses nothing in translation.

-Ellering tries to finish, but Lyons shocks him by kicking out at one. It turns into a fistfight and Regal tags in and cleans house with dropkicks. Ellering gets double-teamed, but fights back and an attempted roll-up goes wrong. Looks like that was supposed to be the finish, and there’s an awkward powwow in the ring while the guys figure out a new finish, and Ellering hits a full nelson to finish for the champs. That turned out to be surprisingly good, with the champs underestimating the jobbers, who clearly showed up with a game plan and were pretty damn hard to kill for ten straight minutes.

-Tuesday night at the Louisville Gardens, Billy Robinson is actually wrestling! Also, it would appear that Jimmy Valiant is a babyface again, and he tells us that he’s looking forward to the six-man tag on Tuesday night; six has been his lucky number ever since he lost his virginity at age six, he tells us.

HANDSOME JIMMY VALIANT & KEN LUCAS vs. DENNIS UPTON & DAVID OSWALD
-I feel like I’ve been dropped into a sequel without seeing the first movie. Valiant is a babyface again, and he’s wearing a Lawler-style crown and a robe with “The King of Wrestling” printed across the back.

-Lucas knocks Oswald around. Valiant tags in and makes him tag Upton in, and he boogies and woogies and the bippin’ and the boppin’, and Upton doesn’t know what the jazz is all about. Lucas drops a knee across the jaw for three.

-We go to house show action from Louisville. Billy Robinson and Ken Lucas apparently were the reigning champions, despite Robinson being on injured reserve since 1974. They’re defending against Ellering and Hassan with Jimmy Hart at ringside. Lucas is about to finish with a sleeper on Ellering, referee gets distracted with keeping Hassan out of the ring, and Jimmy Hart scurries in, knocks Lucas out with his cane, and scurries out. Ellering gets the pin, and we have new Tag Team Champions. Oh, and Robinson got fire thrown in his face, which is treated as a total afterthought.

RICK MORTON vs. BUDDY WAYNE
-Morton works the arm and Buddy stalls for a bit as a fan slanderously accuses Wayne of being YELLOW! Funny thing is Wayne is the only person in that ring not wearing yellow. Wayne tries to work the leg, and they don’t go anywhere on the mat. Wayne knees Morton down and fires him into the ropes, but Morton leapfrogs him and comes back with a Thesz press for a surprise three-count!

EXPIRATION OF TIME: SUPERSTAR BILL DUNDEE & GIBSON BROTHERS vs. DAVID SCHULTZ, DENNIS CONDREY, & SONNY KING
-Quite a main event!

-FALL ONE: Robert gets Dennis Condrey in a side headlock. Condrey sends him into the ropes, but Robert shoulderblocks him and Condrey gets out of dodge. Schultz tags in and goes for a waistlock. Robert wriggles out and tags Ricky in. Schultz manages to Rick-roll his opponent in the most literal fashion possible before sending him into the ropes and absolutely launching him into space for a backdrop.

-Sonny King tags in and bends Rick over his knee with a chinlock. Referee loses control of this one, Brain, as the heels all gang up on Ricky. Everybody tags and it’s Dundee against King, and it’s fisticuffs! Condrey tags in and takes over with a knee, and the heels are in control. King tags back in but gets knocked loopy by a forearm. He tags Schultz in right as Dundee saves himself with a tag to Ricky. Ricky blasts Schultz with a good-looking dropkick, but referee gets distracted again and the heels take control by ganging up on Ricky.

-Schultz goes in the for the kill with an axehandle, but he knocks Ricky toward his own corner and Ricky tags Robert in, and Ricky surprises Dennis Condrey with a sunset flip for a three-count out of nowhere. Nice ending!

-And TV time is up, so no more falls. You know, the “Expiration of Time” concept loses something when you do that EVERY week.

-But we close the show with, miracle of miracles, A JIMMY HART PROMO! Jimmy finally, finally, finally works the mic, complaining about being forced into wrestling a six-man tag match with the new Tag Team Champions, against “Ken Mucas, Disco Duck, and Spaghetti Arms” this Tuesday night.

6.2

The final score: review Average

The 411

Better than last week, but the promotion really seems to be lacking in something lately.